RETURN FROM HAITI

The scenes I witnessed while in Haiti last week border on the incomprehensible. The city of Port au Prince, and the surrounding area were turned into large refugee camps, as the people who did survive were living in makeshift tent cities any and everywhere there was a little space available. Buildings toppled; others flattened like a stack of pancakes; garbage piled on almost every street corner; people standing in long lines for water and for food; bulldozers pushing over the remains of buildings and loading them onto dump trucks to be hauled off; these were the pictures wherever we went.
There is however another side to this tragedy which I wish to convey, and that is the fortitude of the Haitian people themselves. My very first encounter with someone from Haiti was while, in 1971, I was a taxi driver in NYC. The content of the conversation I had with this gentleman has long since been forgotten, however that which clearly stands out in my mind to this very day, is that I had just had a very pleasant encounter with a truly gracious individual.
Over the years since then, I have met others from that island nation in various settings, and for the most part have experienced the same sensing that there was a great resilience to the people of that land. I had the opportunity, in 1997, to help construct a church in the city of Cap Hatien along Haiti's northern coast. The area of the city we built in had no electricity, nor did it have running water or a sewage system. Only if one is able to grasp the fact that the poorest of the poor in the U.S. or Western Europe are quite wealthy compared to the average person there, can the fact that these people are among the most joyous I have encountered anywhere in the world be truly appreciated.
Haiti, once the Crown Jewel of the French Colonial Empire has been held in poverty for generation after generation by oppressive and corrupt dictatorial regimes. Voodoo, witchcraft, and other pagan practices have had their affect as well at keeping much of the population in bondage. The need to simply survive from day to day and week to week has hampered any real consideration of long term planning.
There is however, a strong and growing Christian influence throughout the nation. Many of those providing relief were in place in one capacity or another before the earthquake. There are Baptist, Salvation Army, and other Christian hospitals, orphanages, schools, and feeding centers throughout the country. The group we were working with, Convoy of Hope, which is the relief arm of the Assemblies of God, has a feeding program already in place which feeds 13,000 children each and every day. There are long term missionaries from every denomination, as well as those constantly streaming in and out of the country on building, medical, evangelistic, and othr short term missions projects.
Many will be wanting to decide where best to invest their hard earned money, their time and their efforts as the rebuilding of Haiti will continue well into the future. As we went around assessing the degree of damage to the various schools and churches the only real sense of community I was able to discern was within the Christian community itself. I have plans to return two or three times this year, and Lord willing, multiple trips in subsequent years. My personal decision is to help rebuild the only true refuge that was in existence before January 12th, and that is the Church, Christian schools, orphanages, and the like.
I implore anyone who reads this, however you may decide to help, do something; do it out of a heart of compassion, and be as generous as you know how to be. I close with a scripture verse. "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" 1 John 3:17